Ilhas by D'Incise

«ILHAS» is a limited edition of 50 archival CD-R’s presenting two realizations of a score composed by Swiss-based experimentalist d’incise—the first performed by d’incise himself, and the second by Hannes Lingens and Jamie Drouin—as well as a series of 38 combinations of frequencies (“chords”), based on the 22 tones of the shruti scale, that are used as an activator for prepared snare drums. These chords constitute an “audio score” and allow a performer to generate new versions of the piece, using unique materials to interact and interfere with the frequencies. Each copy of «ILHAS» is accompanied by a limited-edition linocut print by Seonaid Valiant.
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“There are 38 chords, each separated by 4 seconds of silence. Each chord is a multiple of 10 seconds in duration (e.g., 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and so on). The sequence of the chords is fixed, but the durations assigned to each chord can be varied for each performance, such that the total duration, included the chords and intervening silences, is 20 minutes. Each drum is prepared with a few lightweight materials (e.g., aluminum, paper, cardboard, or plastic, such as those used in the packaging of this record). The preparations should be different for each drum.
The series of frequencies should be played through a medium-sized, handheld loudspeaker, one for each performer, with each speaker playing the same mono sound file. Each performer holds a speaker just above or against the skin of the snare drum. Performers are encouraged to search for subtle vibrations and timbres and to adjust the tuning of the drum as needed by applying pressure to the skin. The drum preparations can be modified during performance; however, such adjustments should be made sparingly. The intention is to avoid regular rhythms or frequent and obvious changes within each event. The piece should be played pianissimo.
Attention should be given, not simply to vibrating the objects on the drum, but also to using the drum as a resonator to inflect and reveal the chords. The chords sometimes contain relatively low frequencies, which I feel can work too well in generating vibrations and obscure the higher frequencies. In my own approach to performing the piece, I therefore tried to mute the drum skin in to draw out the upper frequencies of the chord. This kind of internal contradiction in the piece, in which the performer has to struggle to control an unpredictable system, is interesting to me.
Recorded versions of the piece and live performances should be considered equally valid realizations. In the event of a recorded version, multiple tracks can be layered."
–d’incise
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Originally released as 50cdr+score by "Suppedaneum".

d'incise has no perticular instrument, using whatever can be considered as such, softwares, recordings, objects, percussions, harmonium, etc.
He's interested in radicalism, reductionnism, repetitions and conceptual approaches, building specific set-up for each new occasion, in improvised or composed context.

dincise.net